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Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Killing Meals: Food Insecurity And Corruption!

A close relative
who is a teacher in a high school told me recently that he gave up the responsibility
of looking after the free midday meal scheme implemented in his school due to
rampant corruption. He lamented that the quality provisions supplied to the
school found their way to the homes and kitchens of various members of the
staff almost regularly and the leftovers were left for providing meals to the
students—many of whom are poor and needy. This has been the universal picture
in the largest ‘dysfunctional democracy called India. Here the corrupt human
hyenas are not satisfied with the leftovers, but devour away the main chunks.
We have seen in this country how the fodder for animals gets siphoned off for
the quick buck. The corrupt ‘human’ hyenas do not even spare the ‘human’ kids
who have done them no harm at all. Right, in this great country there has never
been any dearth of good and suitably targeted schemes, but at the
implementation level always the hyenas muck it up in a stinking mess of
corruption.

At a time when the
Government of India promulgated an ordinance to implement its most ambitious
Food Security Bill providing staple grains to the poorest of the poor at
nominal rates of 1-2-3 rupees per kilo the free lunches provided to the school children
throughout India under the Midday Meal Scheme killed 23 primary school kids in
Bihar—the same northern state that got famous for the fodder scam. Thanks to
the corrupt human hyenas it was the abysmal quality of the meals and the
presence of pesticides in the soybean curry that started killing the kids in
the most ruthless manner—some on the spot, some on the way to hospital and some
in hospital. More than fifty kids took days of horrible sufferings to escape
death. And, the great common-man-obsessed political leaders of this great
country hardly cared.

The blame game
started in right earnest as the common people of Bihar
and the rest of the country looked aghast and distressed. The ruling JD-U government
of Bihar indicated a conspiracy of deliberate
poisoning while its coalition partner just a month ago—the BJP—announced that
it knew about sorry implementation of the midday meal scheme for years. National
coalition politics prevented several other parties including the Congress from
shouting too much anguish into it. This gives a horrific similarity to the
politics in Buddhist Shrine Terror recently. This is very understandable since
all the political parties are really busy gearing up for the General
Elections-2014 or even earlier in their unique ways of uplifting the common man
only. That common man has kids too does not seem to matter for our leaders,
obviously because the school kids are not voters.

The Midday Meal Scheme that was adopted by most Indian states after 2001 contributed largely
for the spread of education too apart from nutritious meals. Poor families do want
to send their kids to primary and high schools as this would take at least one
major meal out of their tiny daily budget. But the corrupt human hyenas that rot the
system from top to bottom eat up the kids’ food and frighteningly eat up the
kids themselves.

Why not make
this largest democracy of the world still larger? Why not give voting right to
all babies from the day of birth, to all kids at all levels and to all school
children? Let us see then if our noble national leaders take up their cause
too.

Baby Falak, the bruised and brutalized 2-year-old girl, finally decided to say goodbye to this cruel world (India) and departed for a better world. The poor child died on her third cardiac arrest on Thursday (March 15, 2012) at the same Delhi hospital she was admitted to though she had been improving well over the past few days. Doctors attending for nearly two months were planning to discharge her soon, but they were not sure of her brain functioning.

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Amulya Kumar Chakravarty

Noted Writer-Translator-Administrator of Assam 1928-1991

Amulya Kumar Chakravarty Memorial Trust Award

Amulya Kumar Chakravarty was a writer and a celebrated translator of world epics. He translated Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad and Virgil’s Aenid into Assamese. These books were published in the seventies and eighties in Assam, India; and even now are bestsellers going into multiple editions. Doubled with a flowing original language and strict authenticity these translated epics are hailed in Assam as trend setting translations.

Amulya Kumar Chakravarty had a hard life. Being a farmer’s son he went to the nearby town for studies and after graduation set off for Calcutta (now Kolkata) for post graduation in English. His ambition was to become a college teacher so that he could devote his life to education and writings. But due to economic hardships he had to come back half way and was forced to join Assam Civil Service of which he could not ever come out. He also contracted diabetes after forty years of age. Uprightness, honesty and efficiency ruling his career he always struggled for economic stability. He never had enough money and always took pride in telling that his only investments in life had been on his four children's education. Burning a lot of midnight oil, literally, and waging a constant war against mosquitoes he continued his writing activities and apart from the three translated epics he also wrote numerous short stories and a half completed novel. His exemplary honesty remains a source of inspiration for his admirers in today's environment of rampant corruption.

Amulya Kumar Chakravarty passed away in 1991. His family and local literary bodies in Guwahati formed a memorial Trust in 2002 and decided to institute an Award for excellent literary translations in Assamese on a biennial basis. The first Award consisting of cash prize and certificate was given in 2003 to one of the nominated books. This gave a tremendous boost to promote genuine translation works in Assam.

The Trust has announced the Award for 2011 to eminent author Dr. Prafulla Kataky for his outstanding contribution to Assamese literary translation work.

The Award was presented at an august function held on October 09, 2011 at Veterinary College Auditorium, Guwahati.

For 2013 the Sixth Amulya Kumar Chakravarty Memorial Translation Literature Award was presented to Author-Translator Bipul Deuri at a dignified ceremony held on 6th October, the 22nd Death Anniversary of Amulya Kumar Chakravarty, at Sankardev Kalakshetra, Guwahati. The Award was handed over by Imran Shah, President of Assam Sahitya Sabha. A Painting Competition for Children was organized by Shrutinaad earlier on the day as a part of the event.

The Seventh Amulya Kumar Chakravarty Memorial Translation Literature Award has been presented to Dhrubajyoti Borthakur for Assamese translation of Hermann Hesse's book 'Siddhartha'. The award was ceremonially handed over by the President of Assam Sahitya Sabha, Dr Dhrubajyoti Bora on 4th October, 2015 at Sankardev Kalakshetra, Guwahati

Useful Sites!

RAGINI CHAKRAVARTY

Music and More>>>

Ragini Chakravarty is a Hindustani Classical Vocalist of the famed Kirana gharana and a disciple of Padmabhushan Dr. Prabha Atre. Ragini has been performing all over India with her classical recitals, light compositions and sangeet se sangeet tak concerts. She can be consulted here for program details.Under the banner of Shrutinaad Ragini also conducts regular classes on vocal music.Ragini's second audio album 'Bhoyai Oi...Kahani Ahiba Ghuri' (O' My Beloved...When Are You Coming Back Home!) was released at Guwahati on 4th January by renowned writer-author Lakshminandan Bora. This album consists of ten immortal Assamese songs of poet-composer-author-freedom fighter Kamalananda Bhattacharyya. Beauty of words and melody make these numbers irresistible.

Contact: info.shrutinaad@gmail.com

Ragini's Album 'Bhoyai Oi...'

Assamese Song by Ragini Chakravarty

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'My Grandfather's Songs'. Ragini's First Album of Immortal Songs of Kamalananda Bhattacharyya

Ram Kahiye!

Ram Kahiye!

Ragini at Jaipur, March 2, 2011

43rd Mahashivratri Bhavya Sangeet Samaroh, 2011.

Geet Se Sangeet Tak...A Musical Journey

Ragini performing at Karnataka Sangha, Mumbai, Jan 30, 2011

Tributes to Poet Composer Kamalananda Bhattachayya

It was on this day of 4th January, 1951 that the State of Assam lost a great son , a poet, composer, lyricist, playwright and freedom fighter, Kamalananda Bhattacharyya who had composed over 200 songs in Assamese apart from a vast array of other writings. We offer our tributes to this great personality whose treasure-house of pristine music continues to inspire us and all music lovers of Assam.

Bibekananda Bhattacharyya

Mass Movement Against Terror

But when common people are fed up and angry they are capable of revolutions, again, if properly supported and guided. Pages of world history give enough proofs of that which everybody would accept except perhaps Pakistan.